Dos and Don'ts for Entrepreneurs, from those who SHOULD know ...

[KenR]

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Fortune 500 companies claim to be "entrepreneurial," as do charities and government agencies. Members of many Washington think tanks dub themselves "policy entrepreneurs." Even children who mow lawns and run lemonade stands get the "entrepreneur" label. 

But as the term has come into wide use, its meaning has gradually eroded, leaving open the question of who entrepreneurs really are and what distinguishes their ventures from conventional ones. After all, a startup can look a lot like a regular old small business. The recent 2006 Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference, organized by the school's Entrepreneurship Club, took on this issue, inviting a group of, well, entrepreneurs to discuss their backgrounds and business philosophies and offer advice to those interested in taking the plunge.

...knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm...

from alex3f

[mouser]

I found the comments about Venture Capital funding in that essay particularly interesting:

Venture capital, he added, "makes sense for very few companies. When you're in something that requires a lot of money to start or where time-to-market is critical, then maybe it makes sense."
...
For that reason, Holt puts venture capital as number seven on her list of funding sources for new companies -- and she has led three startups. Before turning to venture capital, she will try to tap personal savings, debt, angel investments, government loans and grants and even financing from potential vendors and customers. Mousimi Shaw, for her part, increased her student loans to help start Sikara & Co., a jewelry maker.

More so than other types of investors, venture capitalists insist on telling you how to run your business, said Rodger Desai, chief executive of New York-based Rave Wireless. Their recommendations can seem shortsighted, even wrongheaded. "A lot of VCs have never managed anyone or worked in an operating company. So as a founder, you do have to fight for what you believe in. You're the only one who really knows."